Take a Walk Around Leland, MI

What the musician saw in the sculpture:

The sculpture drew me in. The cracks resonated and I felt a kinship.  I’m going through a phase of self-discovery that has revealed some internal cracks. 

It was only when I looked at the sculpture from a certain angle that I even saw the cracks.  From one side it looked whole and fully intact but on the other, you see all its cracks.  Suddenly you understand its vulnerabilities are what make it beautiful.  Its beauty is in its flaws.  There’s beauty in the way things that are shattered get put back together.   It felt like a really revealing and brave piece of work; that huge heavy thing hanging out there for all to see in its broken beauty.  The sculpture reminded me of a musician on stage.  From afar a performer looks whole and put together.  it’s only when they open their mouth to sing they show their brokenness, their heartache, and their humanity shining through the lights of the stage for all to see.

The melody came first;  a simple plain offering.  My lyric represents the heart of the sculpture for me.  I used a metaphor of a vase dropping and shattering.  I liked the idea of trying to put it back together but it never being the way it was before.  There is magic and grace in vulnerability.   Being flawed and transparent about it is what the sculpture is about for me.  

Lyrics:

It slipped from my hands

Or maybe I threw it down on the tile

Either way, it’s been broken awhile

And it won’t hold those lilacs anymore

Pieces under the couch

Found some shards on the dining room floor

Getting under my skin, I’m gonna put it back together, just to see what kinda shape it’s in

Oh oh

Hold it up to the light

But you can see the cracks in it

Go on,

Tried making it right

I know it’s never gonna be the same again

All of these flaws

you always saw the beauty in em and I’ve

Taken it for granted so many times

How can I ask you to trust me now

Lying awake

Walking the same weak lines

Woke up suddenly in sunrise

Reaching out my hand to stop it all from crashing

It looks good dressed in shadow,

Looks solid as a silhouette

Looks fine reflected in the river

Leaning over the parapet

It looks whole by the light of the moon

Or in the darkness before dawn

But when the sun comes up behind it

You can see exactly what’s going on

What the poet saw in the painting:

It felt like the painting, woke me and freed me from behind a door I hadn’t walked through in far too long. The poem seemed to write itself and after, I felt lighter and straighter; grateful for the release similar to how it feels after a healing ceremony.

I thought it  (the painting) was a beautiful piece, simple with soft easy colors to keep the eyes flowing. I instantly felt peace in the mix of colors and had a sense of “preparedness” when I saw the cracks in the vase/jar the plants were in. I then noticed that the flowers were wilting and starting to die, a detail that escaped me because of how beautifully the colors of the whole composition grabbed me and settled my mind. I am always inspired by duality and balance which the painting that inspired my poem does really well. The “call to action” in the poem is really raising awareness around self-care and finding balance in our busy challenging lives.

Specs: 13x13x7

What the potter understood from the poem:

The poem was a call to action “don’t give up” it said, “there is hope in the world if you’re willing to look for it.”  The poem asked me to let go of preconceived judgments.  There is beauty in the brokenness.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  There is no absolute beauty.  It belongs to each person who is willing to see it and let it in.

I created a raw unglazed object straight out of the kiln.  My piece is about the intimate and pure eye one needs to have to the beauty in the world.  If we don’t discredit what on the outside seems unlovely, and are willing to take the risk of opening the lid, we find that there is beauty, and smoothness inside. 

I wanted to create an opportunity to see something rough and unglazed, to go through whatever is necessary; judgment, fear, disinterest, distrust.. to find willingness and curiosity to lean in, go inside and finally to be rewarded with beauty. 

The lavender inside the container represents the possibility of real love.  It’s a metaphor for my mother.  She loved lavender and taught me to love it.  I have passed that love onto my boys.  I like the idea that it’s the through line of love through the generations of my family.

Poem’s lines represented in pottery

Wilted Flowers point to the exterior finish of my vessle

Brokeness points to the vessle’s lavender which has wilted and died but if you squeeze it and interact with it, it lives on in the fragrance.

Vynal Canvas & Acrylic

What the Textile Designer got from the pottery

I don’t usually gravitate towards plums and magentas and orange but thats what  I was picking up on from the vessel I received.  What I felt from the pottery was a sense of safety and warmth with a secret hidden inside.  I felt a sense of maternal warmth on the inside contrasted against a grey sort of bleakness on the outside and thought about how two sensations weave together. 

I started thinking about infinity… the round shape…. a never-ending cycle.

In life you’re striving for a balance: Protect what is valuable and vulnerable inside while remaining soft and fluid.  It’s important to have boundaries but you don’t want to be hard.  It’s a constant challenge and balance for the purpose of self-preservation.    

The inside of the vessel represents who I am as a person… the outside is the semi-permeable membrane around me that allows that which is chosen and worthy to be let in.  

The jewels are the magenta.  The orange is what you put out there which is also a choice.  You get what you give.  The jewels are the brightness worth protecting AND worth sharing.

Ingredients: Grassfed milk cream, organic crystal sugar, organic blueberries, Northwood soda’s natural orange cream, organic lavender extract, guar gum, and locust bean gum.

What the iced creamery got from the textile design: 

Looking at the design what stood out most was blue, orange, and lavender.

Blueberries like blue moons, blood red oranges, and lavender flowers immediately came to mind as I imagined strolling with some delicious 100% grass-fed ice cream in hand, watching the sunset over Leland in summer, the day turning to night and the greens settling into the water.

I’ve been in the ice cream world for 14 years.  Early on, I realized that ice cream and togetherness are the same thing.  As I created this flavor, I pictured the woman making this painting.  I imagined giving her a cup of ice cream with a little spoon in it to keep her company as she worked.   I’ve met this woman 1,000s of times.  She is my sister, cousin, and customer… she deserves an intimate offering to eat as she’s making this beautiful textile and that is how I got to the flavor “Blue Unicorn.”